CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A one-way ride of 152 km, Black Mountain to Cherokee - roughly 2 h 39 in the saddle. On the way it passes Craggy Gardens, Asheville and Waterrock Knob. The stored terrain estimate reaches about 1,150 m; a measured road-elevation profile is not available. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Expect company on a summer weekend. Early is better than fast. For about 21 km this is Blue Ridge Parkway, a road with a name of its own and a reason for it.
Mount Mitchell has a simple claim to fame: at 2,037 metres, or 6,684 feet, it is the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It stands in the Black Mountains of western North Carolina, part of the southern Appalachians, and a spur road climbs to the summit from the Blue Ridge Parkway at around milepost 355. The last stretch of the road ends at a car park a short walk below the summit, where an observation platform gives views across rows of blue ridges.
Read the complete Mount Mitchell write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Mount Mitchell is where the day begins. Next is Craggy Gardens.
Craggy Gardens is a high, bald ridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway at about milepost 364, where the forest gives way to heath and thickets of Catawba rhododendron, and in the second half of June the slopes burst into purple blooms. The elevation is about 5,500 feet, high enough that the trees are twisted and stunted by wind and ice, and the view from the trails near the visitor centre stretches across the mountains of western North Carolina. A short, steep walk leads to a rocky outcrop called Craggy Pinnacle, from which the whole ridge can be seen.
Read the complete Craggy Gardens write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Craggy Gardens comes up about 21 km into the recorded legs. Next is Asheville.
Asheville is the city of the Blue Ridge, an arty, mountain-framed town at about 650 metres where the French Broad River meets the Swannanoa. The mountains surround it on all sides, soft and blue in the haze, and the air has a clean, woody smell. It has a population of nearly ninety thousand, a lively downtown of art deco buildings from the 1920s, and a reputation as a place for craft beer, folk music, galleries and good food. Locals proudly call it Beer City, with dozens of breweries, and the cafes and farm-to-table restaurants have a loyal following.
Read the complete Asheville write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
about 53 km into the recorded legs you reach Asheville. Next is Waterrock Knob.
Waterrock Knob stands at 6,292 feet near milepost 451 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the highest and most dramatic viewpoints on the whole road, with a vast panorama of the Great Smoky Mountains to the west and the Plott Balsam range to the east. The visitor centre sits on a high shoulder of the mountain, and a steep, rocky trail climbs to the summit, rewarding the effort with a view that, on a clear day, covers dozens of ridges stacked up into the distance, blue and then paler blue. At sunset, the whole landscape turns pink and gold.
Read the complete Waterrock Knob write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Waterrock Knob, late in the day. Next is Cherokee.
Cherokee sits at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, in the western corner of North Carolina, and it is the capital of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The people here are descended from those who hid in the mountains in the 1830s, when most of their nation was forced west on the Trail of Tears, and the community holds a long lease on a tract of land called the Qualla Boundary. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian in town tells the story with real depth, and the sound of the Cherokee language, spoken and printed on street signs, is a quiet fact of daily life.
Read the complete Cherokee write-up.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Finish at Cherokee. That is the ride.
Mount Mitchell → Craggy Gardens is 21 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Craggy Gardens → Asheville is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Asheville → Waterrock Knob is 72 km of getting across. Ride it tidily and keep the enthusiasm for what comes after.
Waterrock Knob → Cherokee is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.